2. Product Vision
The upNext removes the need for a DJ at a party, as
everyone present can choose the music. This device
allows everyone nearby to add music, vote on music
that has been uploaded, and enjoy the music. Songs
with the most votes move to the top of the queue.
3. Target Audience
Our target audience for the upNext is the college crowd.
They like to host a lot of parties but can never seem to
agree on what music should be played. Also they are
most likely to adopt new technology.
4. General Description
The upNext is a small box that interfaces with most
stereo systems. It accepts music wirelessly from smart
phones, tablets, laptops, and other devices with
internet access.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtgAA0SSXqY
6. Differentiation
Our product is original in that it takes music directly
from the users. The transfer is done over a WiFi
network, so no wires are needed. The voting system
also gives the device a unique advantage.
7. Retrospective
We envisioned a prototype product that included a
Raspberry Pi, a Sparkfun MP3 decoder chip, both
inside a sleek case.
What we have is a prototype product that includes a
Raspberry Pi, a USB sound card, inside a sleek case.
9. Roadblocks
The original design called for a Sparkfun MP3 decoder.
After working with the chip for 7 weeks it was found
that it comes defective from the factory, and needs to
be modified in order to run properly. Even after
modification, the logic analyzer showed exactly what
the timing diagram of the datasheet showed, yet no
music played.
10. Thoughts
The project was fun as soon as it started working. Until
then it was very stressful. The Raspberry Pi is
supposed to be an easy platform to use, but there
seems to be a lack of libraries for reading/writing to
the GPIO pins.
11. Advice for Others
The best advice I can give incoming ESD III students is if
something isn’t working after several weeks, just give
up on it and try another approach.
12. If we had to do it again…
If I had to do this again, I would choose embedded
systems with more documentation. The Raspberry Pi
has a lot of documentation, just not for the functions
that we needed. As for the MP3 decoding chip, the
documentation was poor.
13. Pick Up Where We Left Off…
If someone were to pick up where we left off, they could
port the system to a cheaper embedded system, or port
it to a smaller one. Also they could come up with a case
design that is easy to mass produce.
